Thursday, May 31, 2012

May Stats / June Goals


50m Pools are Open for Summer!
May couldn't have gone better.   Having a strong finish at the IG without re-injury was exactly what I needed to get my mojo back.   Ever since coming home I haven't stopped researching races for the rest of the year.  For the next few months my plans are to keep it short, 5K / Sprints to see how things progress.  I will revisit race distances at the end of summer.


May Stats
  • Swim (Goal/Actual) - 12 miles / 8.5 miles - 10 pool swims + 2 OWS (1 practice, 1 race).
  • Pilates Reformer (Goal/Actual) - 4 / 6
  • Yoga (Goal/Actual) - 4 /  6
  • Spin / Road (Goal/Actual) - 8 / 6 (89 miles)
  • Run (C25K) (Goal/Actual) - 12 / 12 (32 miles) - Graduated C25K
  • May N2U CT Challenge - Zumba Tone
  • Races (Goal/Actual) - 1 /1, Iron Girl
  • Rest Days (Goal/Actual) - 4 / 6 - I took a couple extra before & after Iron Girl.

Total Miles = 131
Total Time = 32 hours


2012 Nike Go the Distance Challenge (Goal / Actual) - 200 miles / 58 miles

Injury status - Do I dare say I am 100% recovered?  I feel I just jinxed myself.  During the Iron Girl I had a tiny hint of piriformis pain but it didn't stay & never got bad.  I had zero pain after the race & even the following days. I really think the bike fit (seat too high) was the culprit.  


Since my bike mileage was so low I decided against participating in the Horsey Hundred but I did take part in the annual BTC Memorial Day Training Tri which, besides the hot run, felt great
Treacy, Me & Mary 
Me & Mary
June Goals

I plan to do the local Markey Race for Women's Cancer at Spindletop.  After a frustrating swim last year I wasn't sure I wanted to do it but since I have spent so much time trying to improve my swim I want to try again.  Although this year I will submit a much improved seed time!
Here are my June workout goals:
  • Swim - 12 miles - including 1-2 open water swims
  • Spin / Road - 8 (120 miles)
  • Run - 12 (32 miles)
  • Pilates Reformer - 4
  • Yoga - 4
  • June N2U CT Challenge - TBD
  • Rest Days - 4
One other crazy thing I want to do this month is a Summer Solstice training tri.  My thinking is on June 20th I will hit the Y at 5:30AM for a 20-30 minute swim, followed by a 15 mile ride on the Legacy Trail finishing off with a 2-3 mile run.  Doesn't that sound like the perfect way to kick off the first day of summer?!

Happy summer y'all!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

May N2U CT Challenge - Zumba Tone


Kim over at (Just) Trying is for Little Girls is the host of the '2012 New to You' Cross Training Challenge 


So it feels like forever since I have done a N2U CT post.  I did the April challenge so early in the month & May flew by with my focus being on the IG.  It was a bit of a challenge this last week to find something that fit my schedule & wasn't cancelled due to the holiday.  


I initially wanted to do Aqua Zumba last week but it was cancelled due to the instructor being out of the country.  Then I was thinking of trying the new summer boot camp in Triangle Park but that doesn't start until the 30th which was cutting it a little close so I settled on Zumba Tone for my May N2U CT Challenge.
I am not really coordinated.  I have no rhythm.  I can't move my legs one way, my hips another & have my arms doing something else without looking like a complete nimrod.  I seem to only be able to focus on either my upper or lower body so this was definitely going to be a challenge. 


There was only 3 other ladies that showed up besides the instructor.  Honestly, being 5PM on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend I was expecting the class to be cancelled.  Fortunately all of us were new to Zumba Tone so I wasn't going to be the only one having issues.  


At the beginning of class the instructor handed each of us a shoebox.  Inside the box were shake weights.  Perfect blogger fodder.  I quickly snapped a picture & then handed my camera to one of the other ladies & asked her to take a picture.  She looked at me like I was nuts but took the picture anyway.  
ooohh, shake weights
Shortly after putting away the camera we started our warmup.  Nothing complicated so far.  After the warmup is when it started getting challenging.  Lots of moves with your feet doing a little jig, your hips doing some rotating thingy & of course the arms getting some action too.   By the time I started to get the movement we were on to the next one.  


I realized today that I have a hard time staying focused.  It's no surprise that I like things like swimming, biking & running.  These are all very repetitive & don't take a lot of brain power which is good because I tend to zone out.  So I am sure it was amusing when the instructor had moved on to the next moves & I was still on the last one because I wasn't paying a lick of attention.  


I think the class was OK.  For me, I would have to do this a hundred times before getting the hang of it. I was surprised by the music selection.  It was a wide range of styles & pretty cool.   The instructor said you can burn up to 800 calories during a 1 hour class which I am sure I did not.  I barely broke a sweat.  The moves are so stinking fast that I just couldn't keep up with it most of the time & at times I ended up making up my own little jig so I would feel like I was getting in a workout.  


Bottom line, this isn't for me but at least now I can say I tried Zumba!  Thanks Kim!



Friday, May 25, 2012

New 500 Yard Baseline

The past 6 weeks I have been focused on the Iron Girl & today I realized haven't done a TI post in quite a while so I decided to do another 500 yard baseline swim this morning.  


This mornings swim went like this:  150 y WU, 500 y TT, 250 y drills, 500 y easy, 400 CD


On December 4th my 500 yard time was - 13m15s
On January 22nd my 500 yard time was  - 12m20s
Today my 500 yard time was                   - 11m30s


So in just under 6 months I shaved 1m45s off my 500 yard time, ~13% improvement.  I am not going to lie, I am a little bummed it wasn't better.  I was super excited about the January time but that was before the TI clinic.  I expected to have a larger improvement post clinic.  I was hoping it would be in the 10 minute something range.  


The second 500 yards were done in 12m45s.  This does make me happy.  In the past my easy swims & speed work swims would be close to the same time.  My form was so bad that when I did speed work the only thing I really accomplished was wasting a bunch of energy.  Now when I do speed work I really do go faster.  I know the all the effort has paid off I just wish it was bigger dividend. 


In other random news:


Since getting back from Atlanta all I can think about is what other races I am going to do this summer!  I am still amazed that I didn't re-injure myself last weekend.  In fact, I feel pretty damn good (knock on wood).  I had a fabulous massage on Tuesday evening which was awesome.  



My plan is to take it easy this weekend with the exception of Monday's BTC practice tri.  I can't resist swimming outside in the 50m pool on opening day!


Have a great Memorial Day y'all!

Monday, May 21, 2012

Iron Girl Atlanta Race Report

YAY!  I got to race again!!  Sorry had to get that out right away :-)


This past weekend Nina & I went back to Atlanta for the Iron Girl Sprint triathlon.  It is a 1/3 mile open water swim, 19 mile bike & 3 mile run at Lake Lanier Island Resort.  It is a great race venue.


Saturday was packet pick-up & bike check in.  We headed over around 11AM.  I took a bunch of Clif Bars to hand out to the ladies waiting to check in.

While working the line I found Swim Bike Mom.  I have been following her blog since I started blogging.  I was excited to meet her in real life. She is one cool chick!
SBM, Me & Nina
Once we got through the USAT check-in line it took no time to get our packets & shirts.   We then headed off to check in our bikes & get our timing chips.   Once that was done we watched the tire changing demo because you can never see that done enough times & then cruised through the expo.  I picked up an awesome t-shirt.
Back of the shirt.  So true!
Before leaving Nina made a cheer sign for us.

We finally left Lake Lanier & headed back to the hotel to chill out for a while before meeting my friend Kara & her husband Larry for dinner.  Kara did the Iron Girl with me in 2010 but I have been unsuccessful in getting her to do it again.  

We were back to the hotel & lights out by 10PM.  We decided to set the alarm for 4:30AM this year.    

Usually at some point during race day I have a 'why the hell do I do this' moment(s).  For this race, my moment was at 4:30AM.  To date, I have never gotten a good nights sleep before a race & this was no different.  It was a bit frustrating too since I wasn't nervous & I wasn't trying to set any race records.  I think it is just the fact of having to get up so early that worries me.  

We were dressed & ready to go just after 5AM.  We got to the parking lot around 5:25AM & make the 15 minute trek to transition.  (In case you are wondering why all the detailed times - I referred back to last years race report several times this weekend.  It came in so handy to know what we did last year & how we should plan this year.)   I found out the night before that fellow Tough Chik Karen was race number 982, I was 987 & SBM was 995 so we all shared the same bike rack.  We had transition fully set up by about 6:10.  


Nina aged up this year so she got to go in the 7:15AM wave.  I was still in the 7:25AM wave.   So we  still had about an hour to wait.  We headed to the beach to chill out on the beach chairs.  We made a final pit stop then headed down to the swim start.  Air temp ~60 degrees, Water temp ~74 degrees.  

This is the 3rd year I have done this race & every year the swim is different.  They call it a 1/3 mile swim but I think they use that very loosely.  This year the swim start & exit were right next to each other.  It was a rectangle swim.  They also moved the timing mats from right next exit to quite a ways away from the water.  

I usually place myself way in the back of the wave but this year I decided to get up close to the front.  I was off to the side & was about 2 people back.  I thought the people in the front would start off swimming & not lollygag.  Boy was I wrong.   When they started our wave it seemed to take forever for everyone to start swimming.  This was the worst swim I have ever done.  It was like a washing machine.  I got kicked, hit, swam on..I kicked, swam on, got hooked on someone shoulder & inadvertently pushed someone down.  It was terrible.  I kept trying to get to the left but it was crazy.  Every kayak had tons of people hanging on them.   I started to see some clear water when I got to the first turn but had really burned a lot of energy getting there.  Once I made the first turn I was able to get into a bit of a rhythm & when I made the last turn I really found my groove.  I was finally able to swim for real.   I passed quite a few yellow caps & even a couple red caps.  These were the earlier waves.  This never happens so I was thinking I was swimming pretty strong.   I didn't bother wearing a watch this year so I had no idea what my time was when I got out of the water.  It was a good thing too because I would later be very frustrated with my time.

T1 was uneventful.  I did have a little difficulty clipping in at the mount line but once on the bike I was good to go.  I did have my bike computer on but really only wanted it so I could watch my cadence.  My goal was to average 90 & keep my legs from burning out too quickly on the hills.  Since I had only been on my bike 4 or 5 times this season & my longest ride was 18 miles I had no idea what to expect time wise.   My plan was to rip it as fast as possible on the downhills because I knew my hill climbing was not going to be strong this year.  Over all the bike was smooth sailing.  I only had a couple cars to contend with which was much less than previous years.  

I headed back into T2 again not having any idea what time it was.  I dismounted, took off my bike shoes & ran in to rack my bike.  I got my run shoes, hat & bib on & then headed out for the run.  My plan was to listen to my body & see what I could do.  Thanks to my injury I had not run 3 miles since August.  I used the Couch to 5K program to slowly build up my running but my longest run was only 2.6 miles.  I felt surprisingly good on the run.   I never got too hot or had any cramping issues.  I felt the slightest twinge of piriformis pain a couple of times but was able to keep it mostly at bay for the entire run.  As I approached the finish line the clock said 2h29 minutes.  I did some quick math in my head & realized I finished in about 2h05minutes which is only 5 minutest longer than last year.  I was super excited.  

I waited at the finish for Nina.  Since she started before me this year we finished within a few minutes of each other which was awesome.   We met Charity, another fellow Tough Chik at the finish line.  
Thanks Charity for getting this shot!

We chatted for a while with Charity before heading back to transition to pack up our gear.  
Iron Girls!
After a quick stop at the hotel to change & we met SBM & friends for lunch.   Best way to end a race - new friends & beer!

SBM & Friends
2012 Iron Girl Atlanta by the Numbers:


My time is exactly 5 minutes longer than last year which I am super happy about since my bike & run training was a lot less this year.  Steve told me what my times were shortly after I finished & I was pretty frustrated with my swim time.  It was only 25 seconds faster than last year.  I had such high hopes for a faster swim this year because I put so much effort & focus on swimming this past winter.  

Once I was back at the hotel I fired up my laptop & started doing some comparisons to last year.  That was when I started to think the swim was long this year.  Here is why:

2011 Swim Time: 18m45s
2012 Swim Time: 18m20s
2011 Swim OA Rank: 810/1005
2012 Swim OA Rank: 494/1038
2011 Winning Swim Time: 7m57s
2012 Winning Swim Time: 10m34s

Either the entire pack was slower this year or the swim was long.  I am going with the latter because it makes me feel better  :-) 

I did set a new PR on max bike speed.  42.6 mph.  There are some screaming fast hills here & I took advantage of them to help get my average speed up.  


Nutrition:

Saturday night dinner - Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken, yukon potatoes, haricot verts & a beer.  Oh & some bread pudding.  So maybe not the best pre-race dinner.

Sunday morning - Mix 1, ice coffee, banana & water.  Gel 20 minutes before the race & water

During the Race - 30 oz water on bike & gel at mile 14.  A little water at the 2 water stops during run.

After Race - I ate pretty much everything in sight.  Muffin & fruit at race, nachos, chicken wrap, fries & Fat Tire for lunch (Taco Mac).  Ice Americano mid afternoon.  Hibachi grill (Shogon) for dinner.  Bruster's ice cream for dessert.

On a sad note - one woman had a pretty bad bike crash today.  Rumor is that her front wheel fell off. Keeping her in my thoughts for a speedy recovery.  

Race safely y'all.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Proof I am a Sinker

Below are a bunch of pictures from yesterday's open water swim at Cave Run Lake with Coy.  I had a good laugh as I was looking through these this morning.  Some people can tread water & make it look effortless.  Me on the other hand, even with a wetsuit, I look like I could go under at any moment.

If you can't recognize me, I am the one in the purple cap.  Also, I am the one that barely has their head out of the water.  
Help me - I am about to go under! 
Oh, never mind, I'm good.
Even using hands to tread water I am not that much higher 
Still looks like I could go under any minute
Hey look no hands - ooh, hope I don't sink, hope I don't sink!
Remember this one from my Oly last summer?

I am waving to Steve not kayak support
Maybe after the Iron Girl instead of learning flip turns I will practice not looking like I am about to drown.

Hope you had a good laugh y'all!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Week 5 of Iron Girl Training and Seasons First OWS

I had a good training week.  I am cautiously optimistic that the bike adjustment was the source of my pain the bum.  Nina & I rode 18 miles last Tuesday & I had no pain during or after the ride.  No issue during Friday's run either.  Woot!

Today Coy & I, along with our kayak support Steve & Luis, headed out to Cave Run Lake for the seasons first open water swim (OWS).  Actually, it was Coy's first open water swim.  She is doing Memphis in May next weekend & wanted to get some time in the dark murky water before race day.

There is a no boat area next to the Cave Run dam that has buoys every so often which makes it a perfect area to swim. The air temp was about 73F when we started.  The water temp was 70F.  We both had sleeveless wetsuits & besides the initial shock when we first got in the water felt great.

We started out swimming to each buoy & then taking a break.  It always takes me a little bit to get into a rhythm of sighting & breathing.   We kept swimming that way until the last buoy, about .45 miles out.  When we turned around we had to swim into the waves...just baby waves from the boats...nothing like St. George waves but it still made it a little more challenging to sight & breath.

We swam a little more continuously on our way back.  It seemed like in no time we were at the last buoy & swimming back to shore.  It felt great to swim without the lane line.  Sure, open water can be challenging but to me it felt like an awesome soul cleansing.   It just made me happy.

At the 1/2 way point
As an added bonus to the day, Coy & Luis took us to see some newborn foals on our way home.  They are just so sweet!

This one is a day old

This one was only a 5 hours old
That was definitely the highlight of the week.  Now here is how the rest of the week went.

Sunday - C25K - W7D3, Yoga
Monday - Swim 2200 yards, Pilates Reformer
Tuesday - C25K - W8D1, Ride - 18 miles
Wednesday - Swim 2100 yards
Thursday - Rest
Friday - C25K - W8D2
Saturday - OWS - 0.9 miles

One more week until Iron Girl.

That's just crazy y'all.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Week 4 of Iron Girl Training and the Source of the Pain in my A$$

I had a little setup in the injury category this week but I think I have found the source of aggravation.   During the ride last Thursday night I noticed a pain originating at my right sit bone.  It  wasn't too bad during the ride but a few hours later & the next day it was pretty darn sore.

Friday I did some google searches on 'sit bone pain cycling' & came across a bunch of forums that say to check your bike saddle size.  One referenced an A$$-o-Meter.

Since Mother Nature messed up our open water swim plans on Saturday, I took the opportunity to head to my local bike mechanic to do some research.  I explained to Jim what was going on & the things I read on the forums.  He measured my bike saddle & then had be sit on the Bontrager saddle fitting system aka A$$-o-Meter.  As it turns out my saddle is properly sized to my a$$.

Source


Jim then set my bike up on the trainer to see how well I was fitted to my saddle.  After taking some measurements & watching me ride he said I was reaching for the pedals on the down stroke.  This puts additional strain on the hips as well as bouncing in the saddle.  He dropped the saddle about 1/4" or so.  You wouldn't think a 1/4" would feel any different but it did.  Not just a little but a lot.

The other thing I thought of while I was there is to ask about my riding shorts.  I told him all I ride in are tri shorts.  His response was to only use those during races & use cycling shorts during every training ride.  True cycling shorts have a lot more padding in them than tri shorts.  So I left Scheller's with an adjusted bike fit & a new pair of cycling shorts.

Before heading to our Derby party I dropped of Fuji to get tuned up.  I figured Fuji never hurt me so maybe I should alternate riding Fuji & Jake until I can get this all sorted out.  

I am going to take a few extra days off from riding to give my sit bone some time to heal before trying out the new fit.

Here is how week 4 went:

Sunday:  Barre Amped, Run (C25K W7D1) with LexRunLadies
Monday: Swim 2000 yards, Pilates Reformer
Tuesday: AM Run (C25K W7D2), PM 45 min Spin & Yoga
Wednesday: Swim 1800 yards (including 200 yard TT - 4m23s)
Thursday: 13.4 mile ride out of Masterson Station
Friday: Scheduled Rest day
Saturday: un-Scheduled Rest day (was Open Water Swim w/Coy - Mother Nature intervened)

Did you have any fun Cinco de Derby plans?  Did your horse win?

We have a very popular Mexican restaurant at the end of our street that makes our neighborhood very, very busy on Cinco de Mayo.  When I left for the bike shop at 10AM the music was already blasting out of the restaurant.  We celebrate Cinco de Mayo by complaining at how many cars are parked on our tiny street.  Yep, that is how we roll!

We did go to a friends Derby party.  It ended up being a beautiful day despite the storms in the morning.  I didn't win but I didn't bet either.   Steve did bet but he didn't win.  One person at the party did bet on 'I'll Have Another'.  Her $2 bet won her about $56.   Not too shabby!

Have a great week y'all!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

April Clif Bar Sampling Events


Just under 2 weeks ago I received 400 Clif Bars & 300 Clif Builders Bars.  We should  get the next shipment in the end of June.  We will receive a total of 3 shipments during the year.  That is A LOT of bars to hand out!

I handed out samples at a couple of Spin classes at the Y last week.

Beaumont Y - Lexington, KY
I crashed the Team in Training Derby/Country Music send off party.

TNT Office - Lexington, KY

I handed them out at the Kentuckiana / Bluegrass Society of Women Engineers Lunch.  Engineers need proper fueling too!

Cool old Home that is rented out for events - Shelbyville, KY

I sampled the ladies at Barre Amped but I didn't bother to take pictures.  So you just have to trust me on that one!

I also hit up the LexRunLadies at their Sunday run.  Speaking of LRL, they will be starting up another Couch to 5K program on May 13th.  Krissie will also have Bridge to 10K, 1/2 marathon & full marathon plans as well.  This is a fabulous group of ladies!  You should join them.  Really, you should!

Arboretum - Lexington, KY
Where will the Clif Bar Banner take me in May?

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